Petition calls for end of ‘Special relationship’ with US

A petition posted on the Downing Street website has called for the ‘special relationship’ between America and the UK to be scrapped, citing differences over foreign policy and gay rights.

Following proposals this week proposing same-sex couples parenting and fertility rights in the UK, the petition declares that certain states in the US would fail to mirror these rights, if ratified in law.

The petition say, “In reality there is no special relationship.

“Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, executing Saddam, climate change, gay rights, the extradition treaty… we never persuade them to our point of view and they never to keep their side of the bargain. It’s time for the Atlantic alliance to be put on the back burner and have a stronger European alliance.”

Citing individual state’s different views on gay rights, the petition’s creator Geoff Hamilton states, “We never persuade (the US) to our point of view and they never keep to their side of the bargain.”

He continues, “(there is) no need for non-cooperation with the US but cooperation on level terms and acknowledgment that the ‘special relationship’ was only ever one way, that between a man and his dog.”

The Christian Right in the US regularly speaks out against gay rights. Most recently, conservative groups criticised US Vice President Dick Cheney over his lesbian daughter’s pregnancy.

However, right-wing religious assertions are beginning to become more agressive in the UK with the virulent opposition towards the new Sexual Orientation Regulations.